Poll

Local News

A South Jeffco man was arrested Dec. 16, accused of attempting to drag his estranged girlfriend into a home in the 9700 block of West Unser Avenue.

Chris Mackey, 41, was charged with second-degree kidnapping, a parole violation and misdemeanor obstruction of a police animal, according to Jim Shires, spokesman for the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office.

The Jeffco commissioners have adopted a 2009 budget that is nearly $8 million smaller than the one proposed at the end of November, mainly due to uncertainty about election equipment.

The commissioners on Dec. 9 approved a budget of $387 million for Jefferson County in 2009, down from the $394.9 million budget that staffers presented at the end of November. Although the commissioners added $6.5 million in spending, they cut $14.4 million that staffers had recommended for new election equipment.

Jefferson County District Attorney Scott Storey is asking for $162,000 in salary in 2009, a pay raise of more than 9 percent.

Most county workers have been getting raises in the 3 percent range.

Storey, who was re-elected in November, earned $148,256 in 2008, the second highest for a DA in a five-county comparison that Storey provided the Jefferson County commissioners on Dec. 9. According to Storey, the other four counties' district attorneys are each asking for an average salary increase of 12.7 percent.

"Growing up here, maybe I didn't appreciate how great a place this is," Foster said, sitting in the living room of his Ken-Caryl Ranch home.

Foster has lived all over the world since graduating from Chatfield High School in 1992, but he returned home two months ago to start a family medical practice in South Jeffco. Foster and Dr. Lisa Walker, who had been practicing in Aurora, will open the practice Jan. 7. It is affiliated with Littleton Adventist Hospital.

As the Hogback was silhouetted by the encroaching dusk on Dec. 2, the Denver Botanic Gardens at Chatfield joined the eternal battle between darkness and light by illuminating more than 1 million Christmas bulbs.

Those greens, blues, reds and whites are part of the Gardens' first-ever Trail of Lights, which nightly transforms the trees and riverbanks into a holiday wonderland. The Trail of Lights opened to the public Dec. 3 and will run through Jan. 4. People can visit between 5:30 and 8:30 p.m. daily, and more than 4,500 turned out for the member-only night Dec. 2.

Earlier this year, the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office conducted sting operations at 51 liquor stores and bars. Cadets under age 21 with either fake IDs or no IDs were able to buy liquor at 28 of the 51 establishments. That 55-percent failure rate was not acceptable to Capt. Daniel Gard and other sheriff's office staff.

SOUTH JEFFCO — A would-be thief tried to score a Brandon Marshall jersey at the Sports Authority on West Bowles Avenue on Dec. 9, but a security guard flagged him down and sent him to the sidelines.

The light-fingered Broncos fan allegedly used a handy tool to liberate the theft-prevention device from the jersey before stuffing the prized sweater down the front of his pants. He then headed for the goal line. A security guard tackled the thief outside, and he ultimately was flagged for theft and criminal mischief.